park and pipehttp://www.skinet.com/skiing/taxonomy/term/10409/%252Ffeed
enSki Indoors. It’s Cool. We Promise.http://www.skinet.com/skiing/how-to/how-to-ski/2009/07/ski-indoors-it-s-cool-we-promise?lnk=rss&loc=park-and-pipe
<!--paging_filter--><p>The arm cast can’t be a good sign. “Broke it Monday,” says 22-year-old Mike Harris. It’s barely a month after the opening of Colorado’s Woodward at Copper, the planet’s first indoor ski and snowboard training facility dedicated to park and pipe. The good news: Harris broke it throwing a flip outside at Copper’s Catalyst terrain park, not here. That he’s hucking indoors just four days later illustrates Woodward’s user-friendliness.</p>
<p>At least that’s what I hope. The facility is for the aerially challenged who think a misty or a plain old flip is as out of reach as an Olympic podium.</p>
<p>But those moves are within grasp at Woodward, which houses these dreams in The Barn, a multimillion-dollar, 20,000-square-foot jibbing HQ complete with skateboard features, a spring floor, six trampolines, and a 35-foot-long Snowflex ramp that launches skiers into a foam pit.</p>
<p>After a two-hour primer session that certifies our group to launch off the jump, I click into my bindings and ease my tips over the edge. Below me is a massive pit filled with nearly 12,000 nine-inch foam cubes to absorb any miscues.</p>
<p>Soon I’m straightlining toward the shark-finned lip and then rotating my first-ever back flip on skis. When I come to the surface, a coach swings me a rope from the ceiling to climb out of the foam pit, and there are high-fives all around.</p>
<p>“You should rodeo it this time,” says Harris.</p>
<p>I ask three other groms how, and then point ’em down again, this time entering the realm of off-axis rotation. I land backward, just like I’m supposed to, and reach for the rope, grinning. [from $25; <a href="http://www.woodwardatcopper.com" target="_blank">woodwardatcopper.com</a>] </p>
<div class="field field-type-nodereference field-field-main-photo">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<div class="photo-box">
<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/200907/woodward_pr06_0.JPG" alt="A skier takes the plunge into Woodward’s foam-filled pool" title="" width="1000" height="1500" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Dave Lehl</span></div>
<h4 class="title">A skier takes the plunge into Woodward’s foam-filled pool</h4>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
http://www.skinet.com/skiing/how-to/how-to-ski/2009/07/ski-indoors-it-s-cool-we-promise#commentsHow to Skifoam pitpark and pipeWoodward at CopperColorado Ski ResortsSkisCopper Mountainskiing100058http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/200907/woodward_pr06_0.JPG100057A skier takes the plunge into Woodward’s foam-filled poolhttp://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/_images/200907/woodward_pr06_0.JPG100057A skier takes the plunge into Woodward’s foam-filled poolAt Woodward at Copper, Colorado’s new indoor park training facility, you can learn Rodeo 5s, backflips, and more, into the comfort of a foam pit. <!--paging_filter--><p>The arm cast can’t be a good sign. “Broke it Monday,” says 22-year-old Mike Harris. It’s barely a month after the opening of Colorado’s Woodward at Copper, the planet’s first indoor ski and snowboard training facility dedicated to park and pipe. The good news: Harris broke it throwing a flip outside at Copper’s Catalyst terrain park, not here. That he’s hucking indoors just four days later illustrates Woodward’s user-friendliness.</p>
<p>At least that’s what I hope. The facility is for the aerially challenged who think a misty or a plain old flip is as out of reach as an Olympic podium.</p>
<p>But those moves are within grasp at Woodward, which houses these dreams in The Barn, a multimillion-dollar, 20,000-square-foot jibbing HQ complete with skateboard features, a spring floor, six trampolines, and a 35-foot-long Snowflex ramp that launches skiers into a foam pit.</p>
<p>After a two-hour primer session that certifies our group to launch off the jump, I click into my bindings and ease my tips over the edge. Below me is a massive pit filled with nearly 12,000 nine-inch foam cubes to absorb any miscues.</p>
<p>Soon I’m straightlining toward the shark-finned lip and then rotating my first-ever back flip on skis. When I come to the surface, a coach swings me a rope from the ceiling to climb out of the foam pit, and there are high-fives all around.</p>
<p>“You should rodeo it this time,” says Harris.</p>
<p>I ask three other groms how, and then point ’em down again, this time entering the realm of off-axis rotation. I land backward, just like I’m supposed to, and reach for the rope, grinning. [from $25; <a href="http://www.woodwardatcopper.com" target="_blank">woodwardatcopper.com</a>] </p>
<div class="field field-type-nodereference field-field-main-photo">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<div class="photo-box">
<div class="image"><img src="http://www.skinet.com/skiing/files/imagecache/enlarged_image/_images/200907/woodward_pr06_0.JPG" alt="A skier takes the plunge into Woodward’s foam-filled pool" title="" width="1000" height="1500" class="imagecache imagecache-enlarged_image"/></div>
<div class="photo_credit">Photo by: <span>Dave Lehl</span></div>
<h4 class="title">A skier takes the plunge into Woodward’s foam-filled pool</h4>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
articleWed, 22 Jul 2009 18:31:10 +0000Megan Miller100058 at http://www.skinet.com/skiing